A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1589 



some of them, such as the Mississippi project, will depend to a 

 considerable degree upon the conservation of the forests. 



Now is a particularly opportune time for undertaking the forestry 

 program that is outlined. It may even be desirable in the immediate 

 future to go farther than the plan proposes along such lines as con- 

 struction of improvements and betterment of forest stands. This 

 would give opportunity for a large amount of employment, widely 

 diffused over the country. It would increase consuming power with- 

 out immediately increasing the output of consumable goods, and 

 would thus help to dispose of existing surpluses. Suitable forest land 

 can be acquired much more easily now than would have been possible 

 in the past, or than may be possible later. Costs of land, materials, 

 and labor are relatively low. As a large part of the expenditures will 

 represent long-time capital investment, and as the major benefits of 

 the program will be realized many years in the future, it would seem 

 that a considerable portion of the cost could appropriately be financed 

 through long-term bonds. 



It is important that the program be adopted without delay and 

 carried to a conclusion as rapidly as possible. Nothing is to be gained 

 by procrastination. On the contrary, postponement will mean further 

 forest destruction and consequently will only add to the difficulty of 

 the task and increase the costs. Prompt action will save large areas 

 of forest from destruction, and thus will render unnecessary the costly 

 rehabilitation of these areas. The earlier the work is commenced, the 

 sooner can current losses be stopped, the sooner will returns be 

 received, and the sooner will our forest lands play their proper part 

 in contributing toward the material welfare and the health and 

 happiness of the American people. 



THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR FORESTRY 



NATIONAL LAND-USE POLICIES AND THEIR RELATION TO 

 FOREST DEPLETION 



The depletion of America's forest resources, discussed in previous 

 sections of this report, may be largely attributed to the national con- 

 ception of the rights of the private citizen and to the policies set up 

 to protect those rights even at the expense of public welfare. That 

 such a situation has developed is readily understandable when we 

 consider the traditional heritage of the Nation. 



For 3 centuries America has been regarded as a land of freedom 

 and opportunity. To the New World came millions of settlers who 

 sought to free themselves from political or religious persecution, or 

 from the restraint imposed by economic and social conditions in the 

 Old World. America was the land of golden opportunity for those 

 who had the initiative and the strength to take what they wanted. 

 Rugged individualism was the common characteristic of the men who 

 settled this country. This background explains how the ideals of 

 freedom and unrestricted rights of citizenship became embodied in 

 the American philosophy of government and in American laws and 

 policies. 



The country's vastness of area and wealth of resources contributed 

 to similar ideals and policies in trade, business, and industry. The 

 American frontier was extended steadily westward; the early explorers 

 were followed by fur traders and trappers, and these in turn by 



